THE magical world of Narnia has come to Mid Cheshire thanks to a timely church exhibition.

To coincide with Friday's release of the blockbuster movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, St Michael and All Angels Parish Church in Middlewich has re-created a piece of Narnia. Visitors to the church will be able to walk through the wardrobe, push past the old fur coats and walk out into the magical forest.

The church's family worker Jeremy Coles, who set up the exhibition, said: 'The exhibition is very hands on. Kids and adults can take part in the story, they can experience the forgiveness Edmund found through Aslan, they can imagine the excitement of Aslan coming to life again, and we hope they will feel the same excitement even today through Jesus.'

The Rev Ian Bishop said: 'People who come to see the exhibition can imagine meeting Mr Tumnus under the lamppost, and seeing the meaning of the Witch Queen's Turkish Delight, and the stone table that broke in two.

'They will be able to imagine bringing the stone statues back to life and then be crowned in the castle of Cair Paravel.'

He said there is a deeper meaning behind the exhibition, saying: 'CS Lewis wrote the story as an analogy of the Christian story, so we wanted to bring the meaning alive.

'Millions of children will see the film this Christmas and will marvel at a fantastic story, but most will miss the deeper magic of the tale. When I was a kid the Narnia stories became very special to me, and I hope a whole new generation will discover the magic of Narnia - so if people liked the book, and enjoyed the film, I hope they'll now come and experience the story.'

Bosses say the exhibition will open as often as possible through the Christmas period.

MORE than 200 budding Middlewich artists have been letting their imagination run wild by painting pictures of Narnia in a competition for Key Stage Two pupils run by the church.

The winners were Toby Turnbull, William Moseley, Henry Cole, Lorna Whitehurst and Laura Cook, all aged nine. They each received a pair of tickets to see the film, courtesy of Reel Cinema in Crewe, and their work will be displayed as part of the exhibition.